Struggle for independence: The structure in which Nkrumah was detained at Lawra (PHOTO)

Ghana’s quest for independence was preceded with a lot of struggles, including the Christiansborg Crossroads shooting incident of February 28, 1948.

Following the shooting incident, there were agitations against the colonial authorities for the political and social injustices inherent in the colonial system.

This led to the arrest of the leaders of the group, popularly known as the Big Six, including Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who were sent to Kumasi.

The government had assumed that the Big Six — Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey, Ebenezer Ako Adjei, William Ofori Atta, Dr Joseph Boakye Danquah and Edward Akufo-Addo, were responsible for the February 28 disturbances.

They were subsequently detained in Kumasi as a way of quelling further disturbances in the capital, Accra.

However, when the British government learnt that there were plots to storm the prison in Kumasi, the six were separated, with Nkrumah sent to Lawra.

Before their release in April 1948, there had been a series of demonstrations for their release.

Lawra

While at Lawra, Dr Nkrumah was detained for about eight weeks in a single structure near the residence of then Governor in the Lawra District.

The single structure where Dr Kwame Nkrumah was detained at Lawra

Lawra and the present Upper West Region, which were both part of the Northern Territories, did not have much to say in the governance as they were considered a protectorate.

The area was generally quiet, hence the choice of the place to detain Dr Nkrumah when the British administrators could no longer contain the sustained pressure mounted by the Ghanaian elite.

Source: graphic.com